


A Million Tiny Threads

by espaano1preludio



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Eventual relationship, Hiro Hamada & Tadashi Hamada are Not Related, M/M, Multi, Slow Burn, Tadashi's POV (for now), Warning: Mentions of abuse, Younger! AU, all that jazz, childhood friends Tadashi and Hiro, small town AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-24
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-19 09:42:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3605424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/espaano1preludio/pseuds/espaano1preludio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tadashi and Hiro are inseparable. Just like brothers, growing up together in a tiny town at the foot of a mountain. Hiro's troubled life and the trials the two face leave them wondering if their relationship means something more... </p><p>Slow burn fic, it's gonna be an epic one (brace yourself).</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Million Tiny Threads

The heat was stifling, a humid blanket that coated surfaces and the inside of lungs. Cicadas chirped long and loud- a symphony of wavering voices coming from all directions. Eight- year old Tadashi Hamada lay sprawled on a wooden porch the heat creeping through his skin, lethargy making his blood run thick and slow like honey. He wondered sluggishly to himself how long it would take for moisture to completely leave his body.

He had only just moved to the tiny town yesterday, and to say that he wasn’t used to the heat was an understatement. The town wasn’t even a town, really. A single strip of homey businesses jutted out of a thick forest and ancient houses dotted the base of a tall mountain. Tadashi’s new house was one of the farthest from the main street, his backyard opening into the endless woods.

It was an old house- it’s creaky floorboards and old fashioned style giving evidence to it’s outdatedness. All the same, it had a sort of charm and story that was whispered in the dead of the night when the wind passed through. It was definitely a change from the cramped apartment him and his aunt had in SanFransokyo.

Tadashi was startled back into consciousness by a ghost of soft singing that became louder. It was coming from a bush at the far end of his backyard.

“Who’s there?” He called, his hand shading the sun from his eyes with trepidation.

“Who’s there?” a startled voice responded immediately.

“I asked you first!”

A moment passed and a young boy stepped out from behind the bush, a thin, dark haired child that looked a little younger that Tadashi. He was carrying two bags of groceries in his thin hands and a wary expression on his delicate face. “I was just passing through” The boy said.

“In my backyard?” Tadashi said half- jokingly.

“I’m sorry… I always come through here. No one’s lived here in a long time.” The boy replied meekly gesturing at the wooden house.

“I just moved here yesterday. I came all the way from SanFransokyo. My name’s Tadashi by the way. Tadashi Hamada.”

The younger boy’s eyes widened at the mention of SanFransokyo and he uttered a little “wow”.

“I’ve never been to a city that big before. Never even left here.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

The boy’s large eyes caught a glass of water next to Tadashi on the porch. A whole lemon bobbed up and down languidly in the cool water. “Why is there a lemon in your water?” The boy moved closer.

“It’s lemonade.” Tadashi stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“I don’t think that’s how it works…” he set his grocery bags on the porch and inspected the water with Tadashi, their faces warped in the filled glass.

“How does it work then?” Tadashi asked, staring hard at the lemon.

“You have to open the lemon, I think.” He removed the fruit and cut it open, squeezing all the juice into the glass. They both tried a sip quickly passing it to each other silently.

“Needs… Sugar…” Tadashi croaked, they looked at each other with identical pained faces.

“Come on!” He exclaimed, standing up suddenly. “There’s some sugar in my house.” He padded towards the sliding door separating the porch from the interior and turned back when he noticed the boy wasn’t following him.

“What are you waiting for- come inside!” He called from the doorway, making his way down a dusty hallway. The smaller boy’s face lit up inexplicably as he jumped up and kicked off his shoes, trotting after the other into the dimly lit home.

 

 

Four hours later, the two boys lay side- by- side on the porch outside, their limbs heavy in the dying orange light. Sun streamed in warm fingers through branches, miniscule insects drifting lazily like tiny spots of sunlight across the illuminated foliage.

Tadashi liked this boy a lot- he was kind and smart and his passion for robots was just as big as his own. They spent hours brainstorming about the types of robots they would build and the boy would even explain to Tadashi how he would build them. It was apparent that the younger boy was smarter than him but neither of them mentioned it- Tadashi had the inkling that the boy didn’t even know it. Their ideas bounced off of each other effortlessly.

He also noticed how long the boy’s eyelashes were, and the gap tooth that Tadashi would have classified as quite adorable if he had thought about it.

Which of course he hadn’t.

They had just finalized a plan to construct the most ridiculous robot with an air of seriousness when the black haired boy looked over at him and their eyes met momentarily. Their laughter echoed off the mountains.

Gripping his stomach now aching from bubbling laughter Tadashi rolled to his side, propping himself up slightly on his elbow. The boy’s head rolled towards him, a small smile lingering on his orange- tinged face.

“Are you in third grade too?” Tadashi asked.

He nodded and his eyes returned to the darkening sky. “I don’t like school very much though. Some kids here don’t even go to school- that’s what I want to do. Nobody even likes me there.”

“Well- I like you.” Tadashi’s face flushed slightly at what he just admitted but he carried on seeing a spark appear in the other’s eye. “I want to be your friend.”

“You do? Really?”

“Of course.” Tadashi said, stretching upwards.

“Look,” he said pointing. “First star.”

The warm look vanished suddenly from the other’s face as he seemed to realize something. “I have to leave!” He pulled himself up quickly and scrambled for his forgotten groceries bounding down the creaky steps that led to a path.

"Wait!" Tadashi called out to the hastily retreating boy. He paused. "You never told me your name."

"It's Hiro." He said before disappearing behind a wild bush.

"Come over tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay!" Hiro's faint voice replied.

 

 

Tadashi and his aunt Cass sat sprawled beneath the overhang facing the darkened backyard. His aunt was pensive, cross- legged on the ground with a cigarette between her thin fingers, the smoke trailing lazily upward. The humid night blurred the stars, the only light emitted by the hanging glass lantern burning brightly. It was quiet; broken only by the croak of frogs unseen.

Tadashi loved his aunt more than anything. After his parents had died early in his life his aunt had always been there for him. She wasn't rich and she wasn't necessarily motherly but the love she gave him meant more than the world. They had each other and that was enough.

Tadashi lay on his stomach beside her relaxed figure and trailed his fingers absentmindedly on the textured planks of wood.

"So you made a new friend, huh?" Cass said into a cloud of twirling smoke.

"Yeah. He's super smart and he likes robots, too."

Aunt Cass hummed in a low voice. Tadashi decided to share what had been bothering him; he didn't hide anything from his aunt.

"But there's something... Strange about him. I have the feeling that he's hiding something." He looked up at his aunt as she stared into the night, drawing on her dying cigarette. She let the smoke drift from her lips fully before she replied.

"Do you remember that time back in the old apartment, when we were making tea together?" Tadashi nodded.

"Do you remember what I told you?"

"It was something about..." Tadashi trailed off, looking a little guilty.

"I told you, 'a watched pot never boils'. Do you know what that means?" Tadashi shook his head.

"It's an old saying- a figure of speech. Essentially it means that in order for something to happen, it has to happen naturally. No good comes out of impatience and hastiness, and to wait for something only hinders the process. Instead of expecting the pot to boil just know that it will boil with time. Understand?"

"So Hiro... Is the pot?" She flicked him on the head. He just chuckled and curled up against his aunt's side. She draped an arm across him.

"How unusual- a summer rain." Cass said softly. Tadashi peeked his eyes open and sure enough a soft warm drizzle was illuminated in orange droplets around the lantern. A smell of leaves and wet sky filled his nose.

Tadashi stayed outside after Cass has retired to her room. The rain was heavier now, sheets of large drops spattering the roof and filling the dips in the wooden porch. He sat underneath the overhang and watched as rivulets of water streamed from the roof like thin waterfalls. His joints creaked when he shifted, not used to the immobility.

That was when he heard rustling coming from a bush at the side of the raised porch.

It happened again. Then, a whimper.

Tadashi stepped carefully to to edge and peered over, his heart working overtime. "...h- hello?" He called out in a shaky small voice.

For the second time that day, he saw a small face framed with wild black hair emerging from a bush. But this time, blood streaked the side of it and dark bruises peppered his fair skin. Tear streaks were etched into the pallid complexion. Tadashi froze in shock.

"Hiro!?"

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I had an idea for a fic like this a while ago. I actually started a graphic novel with generally the same story before I realized how much work that was (haha). Let's hope I stick with this one! If you're looking for some smutty action feel free to pass this one up. With this work I mean to explore many different stories with different characters (with our two lovelies at the center of it all, of course) in a kind of an epic universe of feels. That sounds intense.  
> Buckle up.
> 
> *explosions, sunglasses*
> 
> P.s I hope you don't mind I kinda changed aunt Cass' character up a bit. Though, no doubt she's actually a knowledgable badass.


End file.
